Wikipedia:Village pump (miscellaneous)

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The miscellaneous section of the village pump is used to post messages that do not fit into any other category. Please post on the policy, technical, or proposals sections when appropriate, or at the help desk for assistance. For general knowledge questions, please use the reference desk.

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There is an error in the title and the article should be renamed. 2A02:9130:803B:C427:7879:15DD:A35C:63C1 (talk) 14:17, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I renamed it to Draft:Policemen Story, submitted it to AFC for you, and made an edit in the edit history mentioning that it was translated (in order to comply with WP:CWW). Hope that helps. –Novem Linguae (talk) 14:51, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Was this released in English as "Policemen Story", do English-language reviews call it that, or is there a prominent fan translation with that title? If not, then the article should appear under the Spanish title "Una historia de policias" and not under the English name. -- 65.92.244.237 (talk) 02:58, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Arabic Wikipedia[edit]

Hi, sorry to bother everyone but I stumbled address the Arabic Wikipedia and they had a large banner that said something about the Hamas Israel war, and it was like (don’t quote me on this) stop the genocide in Gaza! And I could be wrong I’m not a Wikipedia editor but I was just curious like is this agents policy, like I don’t mind it at all but I was just wondering 2600:6C48:617F:2533:9D74:4184:C6F7:F5D6 (talk) 03:43, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

All language versions of Wikipedia are editorially independent, none of our policies at en.wiki affect ar.wiki and vice versa. CMD (talk) 04:16, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I know this issue has been discussed in places, also in the media, but I don't have any links atm. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 07:23, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
https://ar.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3%D8%A9 2600:6C48:617F:2533:55B:74F7:C323:A7C (talk) 20:41, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I think it was this one meta:Requests for comment/Community consensus for blackouts and other advocacy. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 22:32, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Inexplicably popular article (by views)[edit]

Neatsville, Kentucky in April was the 2nd most viewed Kentucky-related article and has been similarly highly viewed for several months. I cannot make sense of this. This is a small unincorporated community in the middle of rural Kentucky. I cannot find any TV show or movie referencing it. It also doesn't make sense that anyone would be gaming this outcome for months (although I suppose this isn't impossible). Am I missing something? Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 21:00, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Fascinating. Two-year pageviews are even higher on average, peaking in mid-2023. I see no news coverage or anything else that would drive this traffic. BD2412 T 21:28, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The start of this climb in pageviews seems to have been on 24/25 August 2021 ([1]), when daily pageviews climbed from 2 to 410 to 1,717. Perhaps this may narrow the search for what is causing this. Curbon7 (talk) 22:39, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Billy Joe in the same Kentucky county announced he saw a UFO on 8/24. LOL. Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 23:47, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Also, nearly all of the traffic coming to the article is from unidentified external routes (which is highly unusual), and there is virtually no traffic from this article to other articles (also highly unusual). BD2412 T 22:02, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe there's a viral post or tweet somewhere with an easter egg? Schazjmd (talk) 22:07, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Possibly. Although I've not heard it, I can easily imagine a meme in which "Neatsville" (a redirect to the article) becomes a trendy term of approval. (Compare Coolsville.) Alternatively, someone may be trying to get it into a most-viewed listing. It would be interesting to know how many different IPs have accessed the article (perhaps counting each IPv6 /64 as one), rather than just the number of hits. Certes (talk) 22:20, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Redirects seem to be negligible in their impact. Unchecking "Include redirects" makes virtually no difference. Regarding someone gaming this, that's an awful lot of such to sustain. Of course, this could be a script disguising itself as a real person. Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 22:35, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the pointer on redirects: I hadn't spotted that. Yes, I assumed it was scripted. It does seem erratic and slightly seasonal, with peaks in spring 2023 and 2024, but does not vary much by day of week. Certes (talk) 22:49, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
That crossed my mind, but I think the incoming traffic would be more varied and identifiable for something like that, rather than a dark web monolith (speculation before further details). Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 23:23, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This sounds like a repeat of Mount Takahe, which also has inexplicably high reader numbers. And like Takahe, Neatsville has fairly average reader numbers when only counting the Mobile App and only slightly elevated reader numbers with by spiders. FWIW, neither News nor Twitter/X show many if any mentions. Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk) 07:18, 29 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This is getting really ridiculous. It's skewing statistics, even to the point where new editors are noticing. I don't want make this into some huge problem, but I think "nipping it in the bud" is well called for now. Please admins block the access of this apparent script kiddie. Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 21:51, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have logged a case in WP:ANI. Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 22:10, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Admins do not have the ability to block people from viewing articles, this would have to be handled by the system administrators. You would probably be best filing a ticket on Phabricator, though I'm not sure they'd take action. 86.23.109.101 (talk) 22:53, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure what action can or should be taken. This doesn't seem to be a denial-of-service attack (or, if it is, it's an incredibly lame one). Wikipedia's terms of service don't prevent anyone from viewing pages, even multiple times; in fact it's encouraged. I don't know whether the hosting system can, or should, rate-limit a particular IP address or range, even assuming that most of the unusual traffic comes from one IP or a small range. Certes (talk) 23:13, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed. I wouldn't be reporting this as a performance or security issue, but rather a data corruption issue. And I sense this might not be taken very seriously, but I have a thing against the presentation of false data and that in that presentation, the person doing it is getting away with it, possibly encouraging more of this kind of corruption by others. I think it is in our long-run interests to stop it or put some kind of brakes on it. Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 23:52, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
If this is due to a malicious botnet, shouldn't you have WMF report this to law enforcement? –LaundryPizza03 (d) 01:20, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I don't know if it's malicious. It's just skewing our cumulative views data on a single article. I might rather have an ISP notified if that could be pinned down. Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 02:10, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The internet can be a bit of a wild west sometimes. I don't think calling the police to report a DDOS attack would result in anything. DDOS attacks are usually carried out by hacked zombie computers, and are often transnational. So it's a bit hard to police. –Novem Linguae (talk) 07:43, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
An inexplicable steady increase in readership to an article happened one time before, and the explanation was that it had been included as an example/default link somewhere. Will see if I can find the details. –Novem Linguae (talk) 23:20, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
That's a possibility if it's not a link from English Wikipedia but another project or website. I had already reviewed EN pages linking to the article and didn't see anything. Thanks for checking. Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 23:46, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It's tempting to put a banner on the top of the article: "Please tell us what brought you to this article" with a link to the talk page, see if any of the 17,000+ readers answer. Schazjmd (talk) 23:49, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Found this through some searching, not really sure where it came from: urlscan1: Kepler's Supernova article, urlscan2: Neatsville, Kentucky article. The scan was for a different url, which redirected to those Wikipedia pages with some (ad tracking?) parameters. – 2804:F1...99:B28F (talk) 05:48, *edited:06:42, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Mind you, the interesting thing would have been to know where that original link was from (possibly emails? unsure) - both were scanned on the 17th of last month and both articles have an increase in views, but without knowing where that's from and if it always redirects there, it doesn't really mean it's even related with the view count unfortunately. – 2804:F1...99:B28F (talk) 06:42, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for bringing this here. Is it fair to say that Kepler's Supernova is also getting the same kind of fake views? Or could its extra recent views have a legitimate reason behind it? Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 07:03, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Not that I could find, both noticeably grew in views since April: Kepler's Supernova, Neatsville, Kentucky
According to wikitech:Analytics/AQS/Pageviews#Most viewed articles the most viewed list (same data as the graphs) tries to only count page request from "human users", so it's not clear if the views are fake, though a reason is also not obvious. Do you know why the Neatsville article had similar numbers in from March to June of last year? – 2804:F1...99:B28F (talk) 08:21, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have no idea, and I'm in Kentucky. This place really is "in the sticks". Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 08:34, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Talk page for Kepler's Supernova says Publishers Clearing House for some reason included a link to [the page] in email (promoting daily contests) for awhile. Page view patterns are the same as with Neatsville. Not sure if this IP is relevant either 107.128.181.22 (talk) 08:31, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have reported this as a security issue (re: data integrity) to Phabricator. Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 06:54, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Help us rename the Community wishlist[edit]

Hey folks - WMF is making updates to our Community Wishlist, from making it open year round to prioritizing "focus areas" of user submitted ideas, requests, and bugs that share an underlying problem.

In this process, we've realized we're outgrowing the the name "Community Wishlist Survey" and I wanted to get your feedback on a few other options. We've offered 3 ideas, and if you have another preference, we welcome you to suggest alternatives! JWheeler-WMF (talk) 21:31, 29 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest you spend all the effort that would be spent on renaming on fulfilling requests on the wishlist. The name doesn't matter, and all of the options are objectively worse. It's a survey of the community about what features they wish existed. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 21:34, 29 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Can't you see there's important bike-shedding to be done? Jason Quinn (talk) 21:18, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm totally in agreement with SFR. Changing the name is silly, both because it's accurate as is and because it wastes effort which could more profitably be spent writing code to fill more of the wishlist items. RoySmith (talk) 22:18, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
In my opinion, the existing name describes the process clearly and has some recognition. It seems more precise than the other options presented, and I'm unable to come up with a different term which would be an improvement. Certes (talk) 21:44, 29 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with the others. The existing name is both descriptive and familiar. Dramatically changing the underlying process already makes the process significantly difficult for folks to adjust to. Changing the name makes it more obscure and harder for people to find. I'd suggest using this time to make the new process as thrilling and synergistic as the old process was. Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 22:10, 29 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hey, all, please share your views over there, instead of setting up a WP:TALKFORK here. WhatamIdoing (talk) 22:15, 29 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
(In Herb Tarlek voice) OK fine. Stefen Towers among the rest! GabGruntwerk 22:35, 29 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I've not commented on Meta, as I'm just here to edit English Wikipedia and don't have time to monitor yet another forum, but doing nothing sounds like an economical and productive way forward. Certes (talk) 08:54, 30 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Rule of Three[edit]

Has there been anybody who tried to complete the rule of three when it comes to "Editing Wikipedia while driving" and "Editing Wikipedia while drunk" on Wikipedia:Deleted articles with freaky titles? Perhaps, "Editing Wikipedia while drunk driving"?

i am very interested in the deleted articles with freaky titles but i'm too chicken to make it myself OrlandoApollosFan69 (talk) 02:29, 2 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Announcing the first Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee[edit]

You can find this message translated into additional languages on Meta-wiki. Please help translate to other languages.

Hello,

The scrutineers have finished reviewing the vote results. We are following up with the results of the first Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) election.

We are pleased to announce the following individuals as regional members of the U4C, who will fulfill a two-year term:

  • North America (USA and Canada)
  • Northern and Western Europe
  • Latin America and Caribbean
  • Central and East Europe (CEE)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • East, South East Asia and Pacific (ESEAP)
  • South Asia

The following individuals are elected to be community-at-large members of the U4C, fulfilling a one-year term:

Thank you again to everyone who participated in this process and much appreciation to the candidates for your leadership and dedication to the Wikimedia movement and community.

Over the next few weeks, the U4C will begin meeting and planning the 2024-25 year in supporting the implementation and review of the UCoC and Enforcement Guidelines. Follow their work on Meta-wiki.

On behalf of the UCoC project team,

RamzyM (WMF) 08:14, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Typo or intentional?[edit]

When visiting this cascade-protected image file page, the action bar at the top shows "Edit source" instead of "View source". Was this a typo, or was it intentional? I would highly appreciate any responses, especially from WikiMedia staff.

MasterOpel 20:39, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Should probably have posted this at WP:VPT. I was able to replicate the error. Looks like phab:T13700. You can subscribe to that ticket if you'd like updates. However it looks like devs are hesitant to fix this due to performance reasons. –Novem Linguae (talk) 21:31, 3 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]